TAMPA, Fla. — August 12, 2026 — FordDirect has selected STELLA Automotive AI, a leading provider of AI-powered solutions for automotive retailers, as a strategic vendor to help Ford and Lincoln dealers succeed at retail. Through this relationship, Ford and Lincoln dealerships will be able to leverage proprietary FordDirect Customer Journey Data and vehicle telematics, combined with STELLA’s advanced automotive AI platform, to increase revenue opportunities, strengthen customer retention, and deliver a more connected ownership experience.
Addressing the Evolving Needs of Modern Dealerships
Automotive retailers are operating in an increasingly complex environment, facing rising customer expectations, growing call volumes, staffing challenges, after-hours service demands, and the need to deliver personalized experiences at scale. These pressures often result in missed customer interactions, lost service opportunities, and reduced operational efficiency.
STELLA’s AI-powered digital workforce helps dealerships overcome these challenges by ensuring every customer interaction is answered promptly and handled intelligently. Through natural, personalized conversations, STELLA enables dealers to improve customer satisfaction, increase retention, capture additional revenue, and enhance employee productivity.
An AI Platform Built for Automotive Retail
The relationship provides Ford dealers and Lincoln retailers with access to STELLA’s comprehensive suite of AI agents, purpose-built for the automotive retail industry. Designed with decades of automotive expertise and powered by advanced artificial intelligence, STELLA’s solutions engage customers throughout the ownership lifecycle while integrating seamlessly with dealership management systems (DMS), service scheduling platforms, and dealership workflows.
Key solutions, each of which can be bundled together, include:
STELLA Reception
Provides 24/7 intelligent call handling by answering every inbound call immediately with natural, conversational AI. STELLA Reception accurately responds to dealership-specific questions and routes customers to the appropriate department or team member, ensuring every customer inquiry is handled efficiently.
STELLA Service Booking
Captures every service opportunity by scheduling appointments directly into the dealership’s service scheduler while following dealership-specific rules, labor operations, policies, technician availability, and real-time scheduling constraints. The result is increased service revenue, improved scheduling efficiency, and around-the-clock appointment availability.
STELLA Catalyst – Outbound
Drives incremental revenue through intelligent, multi-channel outbound customer engagement campaigns across voice, SMS, and email. STELLA Catalyst helps dealerships re-engage inactive customers, recover missed opportunities, nurture long-term relationships, and generate demand for both service and vehicle sales throughout the customer lifecycle.
Quotes
“Working with FordDirect marks a pivotal milestone for STELLA. It allows us to scale our transformative AI solutions to Ford Dealers and Lincoln Retailers nationwide, leveraging unparalleled depth in conversational AI and customer journey orchestration to elevate the customer experience, accelerate revenue growth, and redefine dealership productivity.”
— Rich Sands, CEO, STELLA Automotive AI
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with STELLA, a true innovator and thought leader in automotive AI. Their proven expertise and advanced technology will deliver immense value to our network, helping them thrive in an increasingly digital retail environment.”
— Chris Thornton, CEO, FordDirect
By the Numbers
Stella AI has delivered industry-shaping results across its growing network of dealership partners:
- Booked tens of thousands of service appointments through a seamless AI experience, efficiently scaling dealership operations
- Achieving a 75% – 80% appointment show rate, turning more scheduled visits into completed repair orders
- Generated millions in repair order revenue generated through intelligent, automated customer engagement
- Delivered an average of 15x+ revenue yield with STELLA Catalyst’s AI-powered outbound campaigns
About STELLA
STELLA is a highly intelligent AI customer engagement platform that transforms every customer interaction into an opportunity to build trust, drive loyalty, and grow their business. Built exclusively for automotive retail, our technology helps dealers deliver seamless, personalized experiences while improving efficiency, increasing profitability, while setting a new standard for customer engagement.
For more information, visit http://www.stellaautomotive.com.
About FordDirect
FordDirect, headquartered in Dearborn, Mich., connects data, analytics, and technology to provide best-in-class digital marketing solutions exclusively for Ford Dealers and Lincoln Retailers. FordDirect is a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and its franchised dealers. Learn more at http://www.FordDirect.com.
